This medieval-looking building has an interesting history, despite being built hundreds of years after the end of the Salem Witch Trials. It was originally built between 1844 and 1846 to serve as a Puritan Church after some religious turmoil within the town. In 1718, the main church in Salem, the First Church, had an issue of attendance. Several members of the parish pretended to be Anglican and spent time wandering the harbor instead of attending services. Fed up, the remaining parish of the First Church voted to kick out the dissenters “for peace sake”. These dissenters went on to form the East Church, splitting the colony in two.
The East Church was based in a meeting house on the corner of Hardy and Essex Streets, where the parish turned from Puritan to Unitarian. The new church was built between 1844-1846 and became the new center of the East Church parish. It remained so until 1956, when the East Church finally rejoined with the First Church, and the building was sold. It served as a museum of historical Salem for several years, hosting a number of vintage cars and a recreation of a colonial street, until a fire caused it to shut down. It reopened as the Salem Witch Museum in 1972.
Maybe most interesting of all, the building suffered numerous, mysterious fires. Fires broke out in 1902, 1925, and 1969. The last fire that destroyed the automobile museum was of unknown origin, and rumor has it that the 1925 fire was caused by a lightning strike. Luckily, the building survives as an excellent example of Salem’s architectural heritage.
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